Fabrics

[SeaDawg]

A month or so back, someone asked me where I got the fabric for the cushions in our trailer. I promised to post the link, and then, well, life got in the way, and I sort of forgot.

The fabric in our trailer came from Winter Beach Modern, an online retailer of upholstery fabrics used by major seating manufacturers. Usually bolt ends or remnants, the amount of each fabric in stock is listed. Also in the description is fabric content, finishes, cleaning instructions, and the rub count test, which tells you a bit about the long term durability of the fabric. They will send free samples. Six years ago, I found them very good to deal with. They specialize in fabrics with a midcentury modern flair. http://www.winterbeachmodern.com/

Our fabric was made by Momentum or Maharam, I think Momentum, with a hospitality finish. It has held up really well, six years and 50,000 plus miles, looks like new. And, Oliver's upholsterer did a beautiful job.

 

Two years ago, we had our boat cushions redone. That time, I used two fabrics from a similar company, Toto. They were also a pleasure to deal with, free samples, and good shipping time. I chose two fabrics recommended for the hospitality industry, one Momentum with a Crypton finish, and the other was a faux leather by UltraLeather, recommended by a friend who works for a luxury yacht company. It feels and looks like leather, but breathes better, and doesn't mildew, etc. It's polyester, not plastic or vinyl, with a special backing which helps keep it cooler to the touch. Nice looking stuff. Toto stocks more styles and types than winterbeach. Again, they do free samples, so you can see and touch before you buy. They don't always list the rub test, but you can look it up by googling the fabric on the manufacturer's website. A lot of top quality stuff for commercial and hospitality applications at discount prices (like Momentum, Maharam, Knoll, ArcCom, Luna, etc.) http://www.totofabrics.com/

 

I'm looking again for fabric for a mid-century Yngve Ekstrom chair my brother gave me, so I'll be ordering again from one of them.

 

Sherry

[hellsbay]

This is exactly the info I was looking for. We are thinking about changing the cushions and having a new look in our Oliver. What do you think the price for making the cushions would be approximately from the Oliver upholsterer.

[bugeyedriver]

Not sure what labor costs would be, but I'm pretty sure it takes 22 yards of your fabric cloth to cover the 17'' Legacy Elite cushions.

[trumpetguy]

My wife is a seamstress and we chose to supply our own cushions and fabric for our new 22 which is in production. Oliver says it takes 22 yards of fabric to cover the side dinette cushions, plus a queen mattress. Their fabric supplier is Miami fabrics (google it). The fabric price for ours was about $12.00 a yard which is reasonable. We had a good experience with them.

 

Find a local upholstery shop and invest in good quality memory foam for your cushions. It makes a huge difference.

 

We bought our Sleep Revolution memory foam mattress on Amazon for $230.00 and will have our foam guy cut them to fit the twin bed spaces on our new Ollie. We did this in the Casita and they are more comfortable than our $3,000 Tempur Pedic.

 

You don't need to have the cushions made by Oliver. Just find a local upholstery shop. Here in Pensacola they are mostly Thai or Vietnamese and they do a great job at a fair price.

 

All the Best,

Dave

[SeaDawg]

Steve, have you spoken to Robert about new cushions or new covers for you cushions? We bought our fabric and shipped it to him when we ordered our trailer back in 2008.We asked for a different foam, and he was accomodating on that, too.

 

We had our boat cushions done last year by a shop in St. Pete. They made the patterns, and did a very nice job. They used a medium density foam, with an inch and a half of memory foam on top. (Actually, a foam mattress topper cut to size and glued on.) Most memory foam mattresses I've looked at are built up layers of different density foams, glued together, with memory foam on top. The memory foam alone is probably just too soft alone.

 

I like the fabrics from the sites I posted, as they are rated for commercial seating manufacturers, but have some "style." The fabrics we chose help to repel liquids and dirt, and still look great after six years. I stayed with synthetic fabrics for better wear.

 

Dave's idea of buying the mattress and carving it up for the bed cushions is great. Foam is really expensive these days.

 

Sherry

[hellsbay]

Thanks SeaDawg.